The New Jersey Devils need playmakers
by David Fine on Dec 3, 2010 5:38 PM EST
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PrintThe New Jersey Devils played their worst game of the season last night against Montreal. Against Washington on Oct. 9 this year, they took a 2-1 lead against the Caps before falling apart and losing 7-2. Last night, the Devils, falling behind and looking completely disinterested in the game, were dominated by a superior team. The game, in my opinion, revealed the Devils' need to acquire affective playmakers.
Playmakers start rushes and use their passing skills to help a team win. In my opinion, we have "stretches" where we cannot generate anything offensively because, other than Patrik Elias and Ilya Kovalchuk (the jury is not yet out on Tedenby), we do not have other "playmakers" on the team that can start effective break outs. We are a team of grinders and power fowards that must dump and chase to set up in the zone. Here is the Devils box score from last night's loss.
| 5 C. White | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 2 | 0 | 18:25 | 0:00 | 0:59 | 19:24 |
| 6 A. Greene | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 1 | 16:41 | 0:27 | 0:53 | 18:01 |
| 7 H. Tallinder | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 1 | 21:33 | 0:00 | 2:06 | 23:39 |
| 8 D. Zubrus | C | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 10:39 | 1:16 | 0:00 | 11:55 |
| 10 R. Pelley | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 3 | 14:54 | 0:24 | 1:58 | 17:16 |
| 11 A. Mair | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12:03 | 0:24 | 0:36 | 13:03 |
| 12 B. Rolston | L | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 0 | 2 | 12:57 | 1:00 | 0:00 | 13:57 |
| 14 S. Gionta | R | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12:14 | 0:24 | 0:33 | 13:11 |
| 15 J. Langenbrunner | R | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 15:20 | 2:53 | 1:58 | 20:11 |
| 17 I. Kovalchuk | L | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 2 | 13:54 | 3:33 | 0:00 | 17:27 |
| 19 T. Zajac | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 2 | 15:15 | 2:36 | 0:25 | 18:16 |
| 21 M. Tedenby | R | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 15:16 | 1:16 | 0:00 | 16:32 |
| 22 M. Corrente | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 17:38 | 0:00 | 0:00 | 17:38 |
| 23 D. Clarkson | R | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 0 | 1 | 13:40 | 1:00 | 0:00 | 14:40 |
| 25 J. Arnott | C | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 11:35 | 2:20 | 0:00 | 13:55 |
| 26 P. Elias | L | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 11:12 | 2:20 | 0:28 | 14:00 |
| 28 A. Volchenkov | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 15:24 | 0:00 | 1:07 | 16:31 |
| 34 M. Fayne | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 2 | 2 | 16:25 | 0:07 | 0:53 | 17:25 |
Travis Zajac is the only player worthy of being considered a playmaker besides Elias and Kovy. Well, like our offense, Travis is putrid right now. He is not the same player without Parise.
I believe a team is only as good as its breakout. The way a team breaks out of the zone determines whether you can start odd man rushes that leave your team with desirable scoring chances. The Devils cannot start these rushes because they are terrible passers.
When we play the Flyers tomorrow, regardless of the result, watch how many times the Devils blow a chance in the defensive, neutral, or offensive zone because of poor passing.
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I agree, there’s a lack of playmakers on this team. Being a playmaker generally requires great speed, passing ability, hockey sense, and at least a semblance of a threat to shoot. The skillsets of many of our players are too narrow to qualify as playmakers.
Zubrus has the speed and willingness to go to the net, but not the passing ability or the vision.
Clarkson has the speed and shot, but not the hockey sense or passing ability.
Zajac is better as a complementary player than as a driver of the offense – I don’t think he’s got the foot speed to create space for himself and draw multiple defenders to him.
Our other scoring center, Arnott, definitely doesn’t have the speed and is much more a goal-scorer than playmaker.
Then there’s Rolston, who has none of the speed, passing, or hockey sense, and is only a threat to shoot high and wide.
Tedenby certainly has the skills to be a playmaker, but he’s still adjusting to the NHL game and developing his hockey sense. Josefson may have the requisite skills as well, though I feel he’s more like Zajac and not quite quick enough to drive the offense. Langenbrunner should be more of a playmaker, but again, like Zajac, he’s not quite fast enough and is better suited to being a complementary player.
I think the Devils have a real dire need for a playmaking center, and to a lesser extent, a playmaking RW. Having one of those would allow the team to pair a playmaker with both Kovalchuk and Parise, and having them both would give Elias a playmaker to play with.
Tedenby is not a playmaker from what I’ve seen, he’s more of a sniper/scorer. At least in my opinion.
I remember seeing a fair amount of discussion the last two years in fantasy hockey circles about Travis Zajac. The question under discussion was whether Travis was a star in his own right, or a star by reflection from Zach Parise. We might have found our answer this season. That isn’t to say that Zajac can’t be an efficient playmaking center for Zach Parise (although not for someone else), but he’s looked very lost out there the last month or so.
Elite playmakers like Savard are few and far between, and cost a fortune to obtain (whether by trade or free agency). I still think Elias and Kovalchuk should be re-united…. not just because they had chemistry and numbers together last season, but it makes the most sense in light of this discussion and the team’s needs (and lack of offense). I’m not confident it is going to happen, however…. because I get the impression John MacLean does not want Ilya Kovalchuk on his team and will do everything in his power to destroy the Russian sniper.
Agreed, but logic doesn’t dictate every action taken by every person. Ergo, “irrational behavior”.
Johnny Mac would hardly be the first coach to decide to try and demonstrate his bonafides by taking on the team’s star. Nor, for that matter, would he be the first rookie coach to attempt that. It’s a stupid thing to do, and Kovalchuk will win given the combination of his contract, his talent, and his NMC…. but haven’t we been arguing in many a thread about the stupid things MacLean does?
I agree
I appreciate the comment…
Like you said, Kovalchuk’s stats show that he needs a playmaking center/right winger to succeed… If you remember my article from a week ago “the solution to Ilya Kovalchuk’s woes” I outlined how much more successful Ilya was when he played with Heatley, Hossa, and especially Marc Savard
I think there are two separate issues here.
The “break-out” I feel is more controlled by factors other than the absence of a playmaker. From observation I’d guess the best teams at breaking out of the zone have a couple of smooth-skating defensemen who make smart, crisp passes, plus two good, smooth-skating, not-small puckhandling forwards (a center and a winger), who come down near the faceoff dots and the slot to be open for a short pass from a defenseman if need be. At least, that’s what I see from Lidstrom-Rafalski-Datsyuk-Zetterberg, and they rarely have issues. There may be other good ways too, but Babcock’s way I think is the best.
Next, I don’t think missing a “playmaker” is inherently a bad thing. I’m big on stats, so I think the most important things are “puck-possession” players, guys who drive the play up the ice in various ways and keep on the attack (play defense with offense). Zajac, Elias, and Parise are these types of players, and unfortunately Kovalchuk is not. I guess you could call these guys “playmakers” but players like Ovechkin and Semin stretch the definition, plus players like Jordan/Eric Staal and Nielsen aren’t exactly considered “playmakers” either.
I’d guess really good teams playing non-passive-forecheck systems (most teams today) have two or three players on each scoring forward line (the first two or three) who can drive the play up the ice. I think the Devils are a player or two short with Parise; without, they’re even shorter.
For guys who drive the play, reading Lighthouse Hockey it seems Frans Nielsen might be had (he’s one of the best checking forwards, and the best checking forwards drive the play). Dustin Penner is another, but he’s probably too expensive for the Devils. Considering the situation with Kovy, Parise, AV, etc, it seems all the Devils can do is wait for prospects to develop or trade a long-time Devil.
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Agreed.
We’ve been one of the worst passing teams in the league for a few years now. It’s absolutely painful watching the team fry to pass and set up plays sometime…especially when they’re playing against a team like say San Jose.
NJ keep loading up on two-way centers and haven’t had a playmaker since Gomez.
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